Sunday, 19 August 2012

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúla: The wind had picked up a bit when we headed out this afternoon. It took us a very long time to find our first minke whale. This one only surfaced few times but quite close to us, allowing us to hear it exhale. After a short stop with the minke we heard from another boat that there was a pod of white-beaked dolphins in the area. We found the pod and we good take a good look at them but ony for a short time as they swam away from us. It was though very nice to spot both minke whale and dolphins! We decided to take a small circle to search for something else and after a while we spotted another minke whale! This one was feeding quite close to us, but then suddenly the minke seemed to be much smaller than it use to be. We were sure that there were two minke whales in the area but we never saw the bigger one again. A bit difficult tour but still very enjoyable.

Tour at 14:00Report from Elding: When we sailed out of the old harbour in Reykjavík we heard news that there were a Minke Whale just north of Engey so of course we headed straight there. This turned out to be a very calm and nice Minke Whale that surfaced often and very slowly so we got a good look at it, always fun to see a whale so close to Reykjavík. After spending a while with the Minke we sailed on and shortly came across a small pod of Harbour Porpoises. They were in the playful mood and swam very close to the boat so we could see them clearly under the sea surface. Only shortly after we left the Porpoises we spotted another Minke Whale, we saw this one surface few times but it was moving fast so we decided to head on. We searched the bay a little more before we had to start sailing back to Reykjavík. On the sailing back we had a nice surprise when we spotted White Beaked Dolphins! They were very relaxed surfacing slowly so we could see their beautiful bodies clearly. After a while we had to sail back to Reykjavík after a very good tour in a beautiful weather.

 

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The weather was still perfect for whale watching this afternoon. We spotted 4-5 minke whales this afternoon and lot of harbour porpoises! One of the minke whales was showing us very interesting feeding behaviour, lunge feeding and rolling in the surface! It was so nice to see this happening very close to the boat. It was something we all enjoyed to watch and the other minke whales were also very interesting and enjoyable. We went home with big smiles on our faces.

 

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: we went out towards where our sistership Hafsúlan was having luck with Minke Whales and soon spotted our first. It became evident, both by the fish finder and the number of birds, that there was some fish in the area, which was what was attracting the Minkes to it. We had 2-3 Minkes around us, including one seemingly small and one rather large. Interestingly, the guide writing this hardly recalls a tour during which more snouts were seen than on this one. Minkes are so quick up and quick down that often you miss it. Small pods of Harbour Porpoises (2-5) popped up at least twice during the tour. But the best thing was the pod of 3-5 White-beaked Dolphins we watched feeding all around us (feeding was aparent due to the zig-zaging witnessed, the swimming in all directions).

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: What a morning! The weather was really nice when we headed out to search for the whales! We saw three species in total this morning! First a wonderful minke whale! This one was quite close to land and surfacing many times in a row don't minding the boat at all! This was just a great start of the tour! After a while we headed further out and soon we spotted a very active pod of white-beaked dolphins. They were busy feeding and it was very nice to see them swimming under the boat and then surfacing just right in front of us! On the way from the minke whale to the dolphins we saw lot of harbour porpoises surfacing all around. It was really a beautiful morning with beautiful cetaceans.